Colorado Shooting Kills 12 at Movie; Police Arrest Suspect

Police are pictured outside the Century 16 movie theater where at least 12 people were killed during a shooting, in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012. Photographer: Ed Andrieski/AP Photo

July 20 (Bloomberg) -- A man opened fire with a shotgun at
an Aurora, Colorado, theater showing the new Batman movie and
then switched to other weapons, killing 12 people and wounding
58, police said.

Throwing at least one tear-gas canister, the man unleashed
birdshot into the first few rows of the audience watching “The
Dark Knight Rises,” said a federal official who requested
anonymity. He then switched to a rifle, targeting people
throughout the theater. When the gun jammed, he used a pistol,
the official said.

A suspect, James Holmes, 24, was arrested after the 12:30
a.m. local time attack at a shopping mall that housed the
theater in the Denver suburb, Police Chief Dan Oates said at a
press briefing. Oates said there is no information about the
motive.

“Our hearts are broken,” Colorado Governor John
Hickenlooper said at the news conference. “There isn’t one of
us who has children who doesn’t think of this as being your
child in this theater. It makes the pain of this grief too
intense for words.”

Eleven victims were in critical condition as of 3:30 p.m.
Denver time, Hickenlooper told reporters at a later press
briefing.

6,000 Rounds

The assailant had 6,000 rounds of ammunition, Oates said at
that briefing. A 100-round drum magazine recovered at the scene
was capable of firing 60 shots within a minute, Oates said.

The shooting was the most deadly in the U.S. since 13
soldiers and civilians were killed and 43 wounded when a gunman
opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

The gunman bought a ticket, entered the Century 16 Movie
Theaters at the Aurora Town Center and watched the movie for a
while, then stood as if taking a phone call and walked out,
propping open the door as he left, the federal official said.
The killer went to his vehicle, donned a helmet and ballistic
vest, armed himself and returned.

After the rampage, Holmes was confronted by armed police,
the official said. He surrendered, telling police he had
explosives on him. The police stripped the suspect naked and
found none, the official said. In later interrogation, Holmes
told authorities his home was booby-trapped, according to the
official.

Unidentified Liquid

There are several bottles of an unidentified liquid
connected by wiring across the floor and “other potentially
explosive devices,” Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Henderson said.
Officers had the neighborhood around the brick, three-story
building cordoned.

Police got the first call about the shooting at 12:39 a.m.
and ultimately received hundreds, Oates said. He said 25
officers arrived within a minute and a half and apprehended
Holmes behind the theater where his car was parked.

Investigators found that Holmes began buying the weapons in
May at stores in the Aurora region, the official said. The
suspect hadn’t committed offenses that would have raised alarms
during background checks, the official said.

Background Checks

Closely held Bass Pro Shops LLC in Denver sold one shotgun
and one handgun to Holmes, the company said in a statement.
Background checks required by federal law were conducted and he
was approved, the company said.

Holmes was a graduate student in neuroscience at the
University of Colorado-Denver who enrolled in June 2011 and was
in the process of withdrawing, according to a statement from the
school.

The university closed three research towers on its medical
campus and sent “a couple thousand” employees home so police
and dogs could sweep the buildings, including one where Holmes
had workspace until mid-June, said Jacque Montgomery, a
university spokeswoman.

Holmes attended high school in San Diego County,
California, where his parents and other relatives still live,
according to the U-T San Diego newspaper.

“Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this
tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved,” the
family said in a statement.

Arraigned Monday

Holmes will be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. on July 23, Oates
said. He’s currently in county jail, he said. Holmes had one
traffic summons for speeding in October 2011, according to
Oates.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is rated PG-13 and there were
many children, including some in costumes, at the Century 16,
owned by Cinemark Holdings Inc.

The movie’s maker, Time Warner Inc., canceled the Paris
premiere after the shooting and issued a statement of sadness
and sympathy for the victims. Warner Bros. is canceling some
television advertising for “The Dark Knight Rises,” according
to two people with knowledge of the matter.

In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly
deployed officers to theaters showing the movie. The Los Angeles
Police Department also sent officers to major venues where the
movie was playing, the department said in a statement.

In Colorado, police brought unhurt witnesses from the
theater to nearby Gateway High School.

‘Find My Son’

Tom Sullivan came holding a picture of his 27-year-old son,
Alex. Sullivan said Alex was at the movie and has been missing
since the shooting.

“Find my son,” he yelled from the parking lot at the high
school, which is being used as shelter with grief counselors for
people looking for friends and relatives.

Evelyn Marquez, 20, and her boyfriend, Fernando Santos, 20,
said in an interview that the theater was packed when a man clad
in black entered and threw what seemed to be an explosive.

“It took us a couple of seconds to really realize what was
going on,” Santos said.

The theater filled with acrid smoke and breathing became
difficult, he said.

The man lifted what they thought was a stick. It was a gun.
Santos and Marquez hit the ground and people began crawling over
them, she said. Sparks flew off seats behind them, Santos said.
He said he saw people struck by bullets.

They crawled to an exit.

Heavy Load

Jennifer Seeger, 22, who is studying to be an emergency
medical technician, said the man pointed his gun at her. She
said she dove to the ground and sensed bullets flying by her
face.

One teenage victim, she said, had a bullet in his back.

“I felt his pulse,” she said. “It was really weak.
Everyone said ‘Run, run.’ I tried to pull him out, but he was
too heavy.”

Emma Goos, 19, a student at St. John’s College in New
Mexico, said she lost a shoe trying to escape the theater. She
said people slipped on a floor greasy with popcorn butter.

One victim was identified as Jessica Ghawi by friends and
her brother Jordan Ghawi in Twitter and blog posts. Ghawi was an
aspiring sports journalist, they said.

“Never thought I’d have to coerce a guy into seeing the
midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises with me,” Ghawi,
whose professional name was Jessica Redfield, posted on Twitter
before the movie. She followed with: “Actually won the
argument. he’s going! WIN!!!”

Some members of the U.S. military were among the victims,
Pentagon spokesman George Little said today.

Half-Staff

It wasn’t the Denver area’s first mass killing. In 1999,
two students shot 12 classmates and a teacher in Columbine High
School in suburban Denver before killing themselves. The
deadliest shooting in the U.S. in recent years is the Virginia
Tech campus rampage of 2007, in which Seung-Hui Cho took 33
lives, including his own.

President Barack Obama said in a statement that he and
first lady Michelle Obama were “shocked and saddened.”

“We may never understand what leads anybody to terrorize
their fellow human beings like this,” Obama said later in Fort
Myers, Florida. “Such violence, such evil is senseless. It’s
beyond reason.”

Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent, said in a statement
he was “praying for the families and loved ones of the
victims.”

Obama ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff at federal
facilities, public buildings, military bases and U.S. offices
overseas until sunset July 25.

Quiet on Control

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a 600-member coalition that
advocates tightening background checks of buyers, called for
action from the presidential candidates and Congress.

“No matter where you stand on the Second Amendment, no
matter where you stand on guns, we have a right to hear from
both of them concretely, not just in generalities --
specifically what are they going to do about guns?” New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a co-chairman, said today on his weekly
radio show. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP.

Campaigns Suspended

The candidates, who suspended their campaigns, have said
little about gun control.

“The president believes that we need to take common-sense
measures that protect Second Amendment rights of Americans,
while ensuring that those who should not have guns under
existing law do not get them,” White House press secretary Jay
Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One today.

In April, Romney said he didn’t want new gun laws.

“We need a president who will enforce current laws, not
create new ones that only serve to burden lawful gun owners,”
the presumptive Republican nominee said in an April 13 speech to
the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis.

The congregation at the 3,000-member Mississippi Avenue
Baptist Church held a memorial service tonight.

“As I look at this day, this is impacting Aurora as 9/11
affected the nation,” said Mitch Hamilton, the church’s pastor.
“It is so senseless, this act of violence, that it has left
everyone in the same emotional and spiritual state as 9/11. Our
community is in shock.”